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The Great Russian Pretence

The Russian propaganda discourse resonates with certain conservatives. Our author looks at the way in which, far from defending a European “civilization”, the Putin regime has transformed into an “eschatological sect”.

On Mourning, with Sigmund Freud

Here, the author delivers another installment in her "anti-fascist library", which helps us to understand our world by drawing on works from the past. This time, she revisits Sigmund Freud's Mourning and Melancholy. According to Olga Medvedkova, Soviet power deprived the population of the opportunity to mourn their loved...

When Soft Power Turns Hard

The Ukrainian political scientist calls on the West to be lucid, because Russian propagandists are using culture to give a more “humane” image to the genocidal barbarity of the Putin regime.

The Persistent Western Denial of Ukraine’s European Identity and its Consequences

Western perceptions of Ukraine have been influenced by Russian “imperial knowledge”. The long non-recognition of Ukraine’s Europeanness by Europe has strengthened Russian ambitions.

Where is the Will of the West?

In the confrontation between the West and Russia which started on February 24, 2022, the West and Ukraine had everything they needed to win: economic resources far superior to Russia's, a technological edge in military capabilities, and last but not least, the international law on their side. Despite this,...

Ukraine’s War and Challenges of Decolonization

Why western “political realists” are wrong about the nature of the Russian-Ukrainian war which is in fact a “culture war”, and is all about history and identity. In fact, this war has shaken the academic world, writes one of the best Ukrainian political analysts, Mykola Riabchuk. The Russian war in...

They Made Putinism: Mikhail Lesin (1958-2015) from Russia Today to Hollywood

Vladimir Putin did not conceive and build Putinism alone. This is the fifth part of the series "They made Putinism", written for Desk Russia by historian Cécile Vaissié. Dubbed by some as "enemy number 1 of Russia's independent media", Mikhail Lesin played a decisive role in reshaping the media...

They Made Putinism: Alfred Koch, the man of Privatizations and NTV

Vladimir Putin did not create and build Putinism alone. Historian Cécile Vaissié presents in Desk Russie the fourth part of her series "They made Putinism". This time, she tells the story of a man who has the reputation of "speaking the truth" without mincing his words. You might also...

They Made Putinism: Gleb Pavlovsky (1951-2023), the Sorcerer’s Apprentice in the Green Jacket

After her portrait of Vladislav Sourkov, the Kremlin's éminence grise, historian Cécile Vaissié offers Desk Russia the second part of her series "They made Putinism". Indeed, other people than Vladimir Putin have, with him, designed and built Putinism, and made it work. One of the main "builders" of Putinism,...

Vladislav Surkov, the “Aesthete” of the Shadows

A great expert on post-Soviet Russia, Professor Cécile Vaissié offers Desk Russie the beginning of her series "They made Putinism", and the first part is devoted to one of the key figures of the regime, Vladislav Surkov. When Ukrainians say that not Putin alone wages war on them, since...
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